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Vestas Wind Systems will increase its U.S. workforce from 2,300 to 4,000 "in the coming months" as it seeks to expand its capacity to produce turbines for the U.S. wind-power sector. The Danish wind-technology giant has already invested $1 billion building four turbine factories in Colorado to reduce the need to import wind technology. "The cheapest way to produce electricity in the United States from wind is to make it in the U.S.," said President and CEO Ditlev Engel.

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Concerns about global warming have fallen behind the global economic downturn as the primary driver of wind development worldwide, said Vestas Wind Systems CEO Ditlev Engel. "Wind is now subject to the overall performance of economic growth. In the early days, it was more you were changing because you needed to replace some [carbon dioxide]-emitting power with green power," Engel said.

Vestas Wind Systems will continue to develop its V164 7-megawatt offshore wind turbine regardless of whether it has a partner, albeit at a slower pace than before, said President and CEO Ditlev Engel. "We are evaluating these to see if they make sense," Engel said, referring to offers from various companies to partner in the project. Vestas hopes to unveil a prototype of the turbine in 2014, rather than in 2013 as initially planned.

Major pension funds are showing interest in funding wind projects, according to Vestas Wind Systems President and CEO Ditlev Engel. "We have seen quite positive interest from some major pension funds into doing investment in this sector," Engel said.

Vestas Wind Systems' announcement that it may cut 1,600 jobs from its U.S. workforce puts pressure on Congress to extend the Production Tax Credit for wind energy, observers say. "We will evaluate it during 2012 depending entirely on how the political situation evolves," Vestas Wind Systems President and CEO Ditlev Engel said. U.S. jobs will be scrapped "for sure" if the tax incentive is allowed to expire, and a decision by the company will happen "no later than the fourth quarter," Engel said.

Vestas will likely reassess its wind turbine-production operations in the U.S. in the last quarter of the year if the Production Tax Credit is not extended, President and CEO Ditlev Engel said. The company also does not foresee any glitches in the development of its new 7-megawatt offshore wind turbine, Engel said.